Accueil > Graduate stories > Landing a job as developer at Babbel after learning to code with a Bildungsgutschein.
Landing a job as developer at Babbel after learning to code with a Bildungsgutschein.
I was nervous after leaving Le Wagon and going out there to find a job. I've learnt a lot, but would someone really hire me with my limited knowledge? I've followed the advice we got at the end of the bootcamp: Code every single day. Through one of the Le Wagon teachers I heard about the Babbel Neos Program. Today I'm a Junior Fullstack Engineer at Babbel.
Summary
My name is Danny, 29, born and raised in Berlin. After having a great time in school I didn’t really know what to do next – so I went to study the great mysteries of Business. I didn’t enjoy it from the very beginning, but with no other options in mind and a decent career outlook ahead, I went with it until having a Masters degree in my hands. After a couple of years in different business-related roles I came to the point, where I cared so little about what I'm doing everyday and didn't feel challenged, that I had to make a major change. So I quit.
"One thing kept bothering me: I was still the Business-guy standing on the sideline, not being able to transform my ideas into reality by myself – for that I was still dependent on the people knowing "the magic". So that pushed me wanting to learn to code."
Besides spending quite some time of my teenage years with computers to play the latest games and to build a machine with the right hardware, I never wrote a line of code. I gave it a try in 2015, but dropped it soon after. After my "I-have-to-change-something"-enlightenment, I wanted to found a start-up. Long story short, it went quite well, then it didn't. But one thing kept bothering me: I was still the Business-guy standing on the sideline, not being able to transform my ideas into reality by myself – for that I was still dependent on the people knowing "the magic". So that pushed me wanting to learn to code.
In most cases, you need to have good arguments, to receive a Bildungsgutschein. I had some discussions with my advisor, showed him the program and convinced him that it would benefit both of us, if he would agree. A friend told me about his good experience at Le Wagon and the internet agreed, which made me choose it.
The community and the mutual support were the best part during the 9 weeks. Since you're all in this together, there is a great feeling of team spirit, which motivated me a lot.
My biggest challenge was to keep up with things we got taught. There is a lot to learn within these 9 weeks, so sometimes time pressure turns into stress and your code failing over and over again can cause a lot of frustration.
Easier to say in retrospective, but: Don't stress yourself. It's completely normal. Don't look at the pace of others. Go at your own pace, take enough breaks and be confident to ask even “basic” questions. Everything can be super confusing in the beginning. Ask your teachers to clarify things. Make sure you really get something before moving on. One of my biggest mistakes was wanting to be super fast.
The pandemic did not influence our experience at Le Wagon too much - we were lucky. Besides our career-week being virtual and our demo day having less guests, everything was normal these days.
"About two months of coding katas, a Covid-19 hackathon and working on a personal project passed. But even before that, through one of the Le Wagon teachers I heard about the Babbel Neos Program – a perfectly tailored trainee program for career changers like me. So I applied directly after finishing the bootcamp. Today I'm a Junior Fullstack Engineer at Babbel."
To be honest, I was quite nervous after leaving Le Wagon and going out there to find a job. Of course I've learnt a lot, but would someone really hire me with my limited knowledge? Since I wanted to present myself as confident as possible, I've followed the advice we got at the end of the bootcamp: Code every single day. About two months of coding katas, a Covid-19 hackathon and working on a personal project passed. But even before that, through one of the Le Wagon teachers I heard about the Babbel Neos Program – a perfectly tailored trainee program for career changers like me. So I applied directly after finishing the bootcamp.
